ON a day officially designated globally as Restart a Heart Day, it was announced yesterday that half a million people in Scotland have been taught the resuscitation technique CPR in just four years.
If applied properly, CPR, or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, can increase the chances of surviving what is known as an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) by two or three times.
OHCA is a significant healthcare challenge in Scotland, says the Scottish Ambulance Service which responds to around 3500 people in cardiac arrest each year.
In 2015, to support Scotland’s unique national strategy to improve survival following OHCA, Save A Life For Scotland (SALFS) – a collaboration of emergency services, third sector organisations and the Scottish Government – was launched, to publicise the strategy and increase the number of people available to do bystander CPR by co-ordinating half a million people to become CPR ready by 2020.
READ MORE: Brexit: Top Scottish medics outline work to mitigate No-Deal impact
The target has been reached a year ahead of schedule and the news that 500,000 people have been equipped with CPR has been widely celebrated.
Scottish Ambulance Service medical director Dr Jim Ward said: “This is wonderful news and it is thanks to the commitment of many organisations across Scotland working in partnership, and particularly to those members of the public who have come forward in huge numbers to be trained in CPR. Fast action is critical to save the life of a person in cardiac arrest, and without prompt CPR the chances of surviving cardiac arrest are very low.
“Phone 999 and start CPR are the critical actions when you suspect that a person has had a cardiac arrest.”
Lisa MacInnes, director of Save a Life for Scotland campaign, said: “In October 2015 we set out on a journey together as a partnership to raise awareness of cardiac arrest and help people living in Scotland get CPR-ready.
“At the time, the target of reaching 500,000 seemed a long way off. However, with the hard work and dedication of the fantastic Save a Life for Scotland partnership we have surpassed this milestone over a year ahead of schedule and we’re keeping on counting aiming to reach as many people as we can.
“This amazing achievement belongs to every person who helped spread the life-saving message of CPR across communities throughout Scotland and especially the 500,000 folks living in Scotland who took time to stop and learn.
Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “It’s fantastic news that our aim to equip an additional 500,000 people with CPR skills has been reached ahead of schedule. This joint campaign with public and voluntary services is an excellent example of how we can all work together to improve chances of survival.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here